If we assume there is such a thing as natural rights, and that is not as easy of a case as many would like to think, then it must follow that the primary duty of government is to defend the natural rights of the citizens. After all, there can be only two reasons for government with one being the defense of citizen's rights. The other is to maintain the tyranny of a ruling class.
The starting assumption for Americans is that the purpose of government is to secure the natural rights of the people. The government does not grant rights. It defends your rights granted by God. In fact, this assertion is in the very beginning of the Declaration of Independence. "That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed."
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